Boat structure for seaplanes



' Oct. 14, 1930.

P. G. PETTERSEN BOAT STRUCTURE FOR SEAPIINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan.28, 1928 Oct. 14, 1930. P. c. PETTERSEN 1,778,467

BOAT STRUCTURE FOR SEAPLANES Filed Jan. 28, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet PatentedOct. 14, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IBOA'I STRUCTURE FOR SEAPLANESApplication filed Ianuary 28, 1928. Serial No. 250,143.

This invention relates to improvements in boat structures for seaplanes.

With airplanes and seaplanes as heretofore constructed, long distanceflights over water 6 are highly hazardous, for the reason that thefloating structures as heretofore constituted are not adapted to standbuifeting of rough seas for any considerable length of time where forcedlandings upon the water are necessary.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of a boat structurefor seaplanes adapted to remain afloat indefinitely and to automaticallyright itself in the event 1 that it should be overturned in an unusuallyrough sea.

Another object is the provision of means for ballasting the boat and soarranging the ballast that it shall be difficult to overturn the boat,and that the boat will automatically right itself under such conditions.

A furtherobject is the provision in a boat of this character of a seriesof fluid tight compartments beneath the deck of the passenger carryingsection of the boat, whereby the buoyancy of the boat will not begreatly impaired by any local staving in of the bilge plates.

Anotherobject is the provision of an -en-' 3 tirely enclosed water-tighthull of suflicient strength above the water line to render the boatsea-worthy and substantially non-sink- 7 able when over-turned as wellas in upright position. v StiIlanOther objec-tisthe connection of thewing struts-to the boat structure below the deck within the confines ofwater-tight compartments, whereby damage to the boat through strains putupon the struts will be confined to areas enclosed between watertightbulkheads beneath the deck.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with thedescription of that embodiment of the invention which, for the purposesof the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings,'in which Figure l is a plan view of a seaplaneboat 9gstructure embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same.

Figure 3 1s a longitudinal view of the structure, principally invertical section, a

portion of the inner sheathing being removed to more clearly disclosethe frame work, and some of the parts of the structure being i1-lustrated more or less diagrammatically.

Figured is a front elevation showing the arrangement of wing struts.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the hull of the boat, takensubstantially on the line 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is another cross-sectional view of the hull taken substantiallyon the line 66 of Figure 3.

Figure 7 is a detail sectional view illustrating' a form of sealing andfastening which may be employed upon the hatches of the boat.

In the drawings I have illustrated a flying boat of the monoplane type,although the invention is equally well adapted to use upon biplanes orother types of air craft. The boat structure is indicated generally bythe reference character A and the wings by the reference character B.Any number of propellers and driving motors may be employed, three beinghere illustrated at G, D and E. The wings are braced by inclined strutsF, which are attached to the boat structure in a manner to be describedhereinafter. The empennage assembly is diagrammatically indicated at J.

The material employed in the construction of the boat is principallymetal, preferably an aluminum alloy of a high strength-weight ratio, andone that is resistant to the corrosive action of salt water and saltair. The specific makeup of the frame work is of no particular moment sofar as my invention is concerned, but by way of example I have shown aseries of longerons 10 of double angle or T section, and a series ofribs 11 intersecting the longerons and secured thereto, the ribs beingof single angle form. To the outer sides of the frame work I rivet, weldor otherwise secure sheet metal plates to completely enclose the hull,being careful to keep all joints water-tight.

In shape, the boat structure may approximate roughly a torpedo, thisform affording low resistance to the air during flight. It is divided bya transverse partition 12 into a forward or passenger carrying section Gand an aft section H which may be utilized for the storage of freight,mail, etc, and may carry a fuel tank 13. In the forward section of theboat I provide a deckla'whi'ch is watertight, and is connected tothesides of'thebo'at by water-tight joints. The deck-14; is located welldown towards the bottom of the boat at a height near the widest patterthe boat and also near the water line. The

space between the deck 14' "and the bi'lgeplate's may vary considerably,but for a boat de-. signed to carry twentyzor thirty peoplea maximumdepth below the deck of approxi mately one foot is at present preferred.The space belowthe deck is divided up into a series of water-tight, andpreferably airtight compartments, by means of. a longitudinal'cent'ralbulkhead 15, extending up wardly from the keel ofthe boat and a seriesof transverse bulkheads 16. At its forward end the deck 14'is preferablydeflected upwardly, as indicated at 17, so as to provide a water tightcompartment in the bow of the boat also. r

Light'for the passenger section of the boat may be admitted through aseriesof port holes 18 in the side walls and other port holes 19 inthetop wall. The windows for? the port holes are preferably permanently setin V their-closed position: Ventilation is provid ed by two or moreventilators 20, havingmoi able cowls that canbe turned horizontally intoposition to'admit-and discharge the desired amount'of air. Theseventilators may be closedor opened atwillby means of'sliceing valves 21.Preferably the ventilator cowls and ventilator valves are connectec foroperation from the pilots seat, and: this may be done in any suitablemanner, a lever' '1. and linkage 22 for the" forward valvebeingillustrated by way of example in Figure 3.

, Entrance to and exit from the passenger compartment are 7 had througha hatch 23 which is arranged to be fastened from the insideofthe boat,watertight-joints being provided.

througha hatch 24:, which is also arranged to be fastened andunfa'stened from the'forward section Ga Access to the storage section Hof thejboat' may be had through a hatch 25,

whichc n befastened and unfastened from below. In the bottom of the''boa t I provide an additional hatch 26 which is of consider-Communication between the two sec-; tions G- and H of-the boat maybehad" be upturned and fail for any reason to right itself.

Along each side of the keel I preferably attach wear strips 27 to theouter surfaces of the bilge plates. The wing struts F are secured to thebilge of the boat between adjacent transverse bulkheads 16, so that ifunusual strains upon the struts break the-m loose from the boat anddamage the bilge'plates i'if'sodo'i'ng, the resulting leak will affectonly the water tight-f compartments surrounding the attachment points ofthe struts.

' resi n-re 7 I have illustratedone means for sealing and fastening thehatches of the boat, but'ofcour's'e', any other suitable means maybeemployed, Int-hisfigure have shown an annular soft rubber; gasket 28against which the hatch is pressed by means ofa fasteningclamp 2 9. v InFigure 21 have illustrated, diagrammatically a series of valves in thebilge plates of the boat, arranged upon opposite sides of the centerbulkhead 15, there being one valvefor each compartmentb elow the deck,except those at the bow which are above the waterline. Any suitablemeans may be employed for opening and closing these valves from, thepassenger compartment,

either individually or collectively or. in

to hold the boat into the wind, 'b'uoyancy would become secondary linimportance to stability- Under such circumstances'someor Y allof'thevalves 30 would be opened until the correspondingv compartments filledwith water, and would then-be closed again. The

ballast/thus provided would-tendto prevent capsizing. As a precautionagainst possible capsi'zing the I ventilators 20? and all hatches wouldbe" tightly 'closedi Nowf-shouldgthe boat be rolled over temporarily thef'ac't that its; center of gravity, due'tothe ballast, is"

considerably above its centerof buoyancy, wouldcause the boat to rightitself immediately. 1 v 7 It will, of course, be appreciated thatinstead'ofwater ballast I' may,-ifdesired, employ some part of thenecessary load of the plane, as for instancegfueloi baggage freight. Inthat event such load will be introduced into or removedfrom the watertighticompart-merits through; the openings .31, above mentioned. 1

and foregoing description I have explained more or less in detail aspecific embodiment of the invention, I desire it to be understood thatsuch disclosure is primarily for the purpose of illustration and shouldnot be construed as a limitation of the invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1'. In a seaplane, a boat structure, a deck therein, an enclosedcompartment above said deck, a wing arranged transversely of said boatstructure, a wing strut extending from said wing diagonally downward andsecured to the bilge of the boat, and a water-tight compartment withinthe bilge above the attachment of said strut, occupying a fraction onlyof the space between the deck and bilge.

2. In a seaplane, a boat structure, a wing arranged transversely of saidboat structure, a deck within said boat structure, a wing strutextending from said wing diagonally downward and secured to the bilge ofthe boat beneath said deck, and a watertight compartment between saiddeck and bilge extending forwardly and rearwardly beyond the attachmentof said strut.

8. In a seaplane, a boat structure, a wing arranged transversely of saidboat structure, a water-tight deck within said boat structure, a seriesof water-tight bulkheads between said deck and the bilge of the boatdividing the space beneath the deck into a series of water-tightcompartments, and a wing strut extending from said wing diagonallydownward and secured to the bilge of the boat between adjacentbulkheads.

4. In a seaplane, a boat, two wings extending laterally from the upperportion of said boat, braces extending downwardly at an angle from saidwings and attached to the lower portion of said boat, said boat beingwidest substantially at the water-line and gradually decreasing in widthtoward the top thereof and having its greatest vertical dimension abovethe waterline, said boat being entirely enclosed, and a deck within theboat substantially at the water-line thereof.

5. In aseaplane, a boat, two wings extending laterally from the upperportion of said boat, braces extending downwardly at an angle from saidwings and attached to the lower portion of said boat, said boat being Iwidest substantially at the water-line and gradually decreasing in widthtoward the top thereof and having its greatest vertical dimension abovethe water-line, said boat being entirely enclosed, and being providedwith a water-tight deck spaced from the bottom of the boat, said deckbeing near the kwater-line and near the widest portion of the oat.

6. In a seaplane, a boat, two wings extending laterally from the upperportion of said boat, braces extending downwardly at an angle from saidwings and attached to the lower portion of said boat, said boat beingwidest substantially at the water-line and having its greatest verticaldimension above the water line, said boat being entirely enclosed, andbeing provided with a water-tight deck spaced from the bottom of theboat, said deck being near the water-line and near the widest portion ofthe boat, the space between said deck and the bottom of the boat beingdivided into water tight compartments.

7. In a seaplane, a boat, two wings extending laterally from the upperportion of said boat, braces extending downwardly at an angle from saidwings and attached to the lower portion of said boat, said boat beingwidest substantially at the water-line and having its greatest verticaldimension above the water-line, said boat being entirely enclosed, andbeing provided with a water-tight deck spaced from the bottom of theboat, said deck being near the water-line and near the widest portion ofthe boat, the space between said deck and the bottom of the boat beingdivided into water-tight compartments, and valves in the bottom of theboat below said compartments for the admission or the discharge ofwater.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

PETTER G. PETTERSEN.

